As part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, Israel has released 3,700 Palestinian prisoners, according to a statement issued on Monday (October 13) by the Israel Prison Service’s Public Relations Department.
The prisoners were released in two phases. In the first phase, around 2,000 prisoners were freed from Israel’s Ofer Prison, located west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. They were transported by buses provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) to the city of Beitunia, where crowds of Palestinians gathered to welcome them.
The second batch, comprising 1,718 Palestinian detainees, arrived in Gaza’s Khan Younis city from Israel’s Negev Prison around the same time. According to the Israeli Prison Service, these detainees were among those arrested after Israel’s military offensive began in Gaza in October 2023, and included 250 prisoners serving life sentences.
Upon arrival, the released prisoners underwent initial medical examinations at Gaza’s Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in both Beitunia and Khan Younis to greet and celebrate the return of their loved ones.
The release comes nearly two years after the October 7, 2023, attack, when about 1,000 Hamas fighters infiltrated Israeli territory, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages—the deadliest attack in Israel’s history since its founding in 1948.
In retaliation, Israel launched a massive military campaign in Gaza beginning October 8, 2023. Over the past two years, that offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and injured around 170,000, according to local authorities.
Sources: Israel Prison Service, Hamas Information Office.